N.Y. foundation donates only recovered American flag from ground zero to 9/11 museum

Courtesy of The National September 11 Memorial & MuseumVisitors enter along a corridor in which photographs of the nearly 3,000 victims of the September 11 attacks as well as the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum

NEW YORK — A New York City foundation is donating the only U.S. flag recovered from ground zero to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Museum spokesman Michael Frazier says the tattered, 20-foot-by-30-foot flag will first embark on a national tour. People from disaster-stricken communities will help restore it by sewing on parts of other U.S. flags.

After a two-year tour, the flag will become part of the September 11 museum’s permanent collection.

It’s being donated by the New York Says Thank You Foundation. It’s a nonprofit group that was founded to repay the acts of kindness the city received after 9/11.

The group sends volunteers to help rebuild communities across the country affected by disasters.